Candidates back on front line in La Trobe

By Callan Date
A FORMER policeman up against an ex-defence force member – the federal seat of La Trobe is set to be one fierce fight.
The battlelines for Liberal MP Jason Wood and ALP candidate Rodney Cocks were officially drawn on Sunday when Prime Minister John Howard announced that 24 November would be the day the country heads to the polls.
La Trobe, which stretches from Narre Warren North and Berwick in the west up to Boronia and across to Cockatoo in the east, is held by the Liberals by a margin of five per cent.
Bookmakers can hardly split the pair, with the ALP at $1.80 and Liberals at $1.95 to win La Trobe.
Mr Wood was first elected in 2004 with the seat in Liberal hands since 1990.
But the ALP has thrown in a glamour candidate in Mr Cocks to contest the upcoming election.
The Duntroon Military College graduate and 2005 Victorian of the Year has advised the United Nations on security issues and helped restore peace in East Timor. He has also served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Credentials like that don’t grow on tress.
Mr Wood, a former senior sergeant in Victoria Police’s Counter Terrorism Coordination Unit, knows he has a challenge on his hands.
He defeated ALP candidate Susan Davies in the 2004 election and has since delivered some big-ticket items to his electorate.
Mr Wood has campaigned for funding for major road projects including the Pakenham Bypass, Bryn Mawr Bridge and installation of the Officer traffic lights.
“This election is about the growth and prosperity of our local community and Australia over the next three years,” Mr Wood said.
“A strong and well-managed economy has benefited us in the La Trobe electorate with substantial federal investments in major infrastructure, services and other important programs.
“A federal Labor government will not deliver the essential services that the people of La Trobe require because they don’t have the plans or experience to manage the economy and create growth,” Mr Wood said.
But Mr Cocks disagrees.
“This election is about the future,” he said.
“And this election is about who can deliver new leadership for Australia’s future.
“La Trobe can’t afford three more years of a government that has lost touch with this community,” he said.
Mr Cocks has strongly backed ALP leader Kevin Rudd’s plans for an education revolution, a national plan to fix state government-run hospitals and establishing balance and fairness in the workplace by scrapping Australian Workplace Agreements.
Both Mr Cocks and Mr Wood have had experience on the front line and, with the rules of engagement now drawn, have six weeks to do their utmost to get elected.